“A Profile” is a continuing series of articles here on the ROK Drop that describes each of the different US military installations in Korea and the corresponding “villes” outside of the gate. You can learn more about these locations at the below links:
Note: If anyone wants to contribute an article to this series feel free to send it to me using the “Contact” link above. If it is of high enough quality I will publish it here on the ROK Drop. I would particularly like to publish articles about camps that are now closed. If you have served on a now closed camp and would like to share your thoughts and pictures of your time on the camp please write an article and send it to me or post it in the Forums.
Wee Sung-ho (R), president of the Korea National Defense University (KNDU), and Frederick Padilla, president of the National Defense University of the U.S., shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding in Seoul on Feb. 24, 2016, for academic exchanges between their institutions. The agreement covers exchanges of teaching staff and students, conducting joint studies and sharing of research findings. (Photo courtesy of KNDU) (Yonhap)
I would not be surprised if in the next few years garrison commanders don’t start implementing this on their installations with or without a state law in effect:
Beginning New Year’s Day, military installations throughout Hawaii will prohibit anyone under age 21 from buying or using tobacco.
The new rules by the Navy, Marines, Army and Air Force coincide with a similar measure passed by the Hawaii legislature in June that takes effect Friday.
Hawaii is the first state to institute an under-21 ban on tobacco sales and possession, which also includes so-called e-cigarettes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. More than 100 U.S. municipalities have raised the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21, with California considering a state-wide ban.
Military installations don’t always follow state law on such matters. Even though Washington and Colorado have legalized recreational use of marijuana, servicemembers are not allowed to use the drug in those states.
The Navy’s ban does not apply to personnel or transactions while aboard U.S. naval vessels because they fall under federal laws. Tobacco is sold aboard some ships. The Navy banned smoking in submarines at the end of 2010, but talk last year of a fleet-wide ban met resistance from some members of Congress. [Stars & Stripes]
Another ordinance round landing outside the limits of Rodriguez Range is the last thing USFK needed to happen at the increasingly controversial firing range. It will be interesting to see if the investigation results will be released because it would helpful to know if this was human error or a problem with the TOW missile? Regardless activists will undoubtedly jump on this in their effort to get paid:
The U.S. military has suspended training at the Rodriguez Live Fire Range in South Korea after a stray missile struck a nearby building.
No one was injured in the Wednesday incident, which is under investigation, 8th Army spokesman Col. David Patterson Jr. said Thursday.
The tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) anti-tank missile was fired by Marines training at the range, 2nd Infantry Division spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hyde said. It landed 200 meters outside the range boundary in an abandoned building within the Pocheon city limits.
“All operations have been ceased at the range,” Patterson said.
Rodriguez Live Fire Range is a 3,390-acre complex used year-round by both U.S. and South Korean forces. While most of the surrounding area is rural, residents have long voiced complaints over noise, fires and other incidents. [Stars & Stripes]
This really shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that has been following this issue, it has been pretty clear this was going to happen for quite some time. So now when is the physical fitness test going to be equal as well?:
Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday opened all military jobs to women, a historic step that removed the final barriers to women in ground combat and special operations positions despite opposition from the Marine Corps that sought to keep all-male units on the frontlines.
“Everyone who is able and willing to serve their country, who can meet the standards should have the full and equal opportunity to do so,” Carter said during a news conference at the Pentagon. “The important factor in making my decision was to have access to every American who can add strength to the force. Now more than ever we cannot afford to have barriers limiting our access of talent.”
Carter gave the service chiefs 30 days to provide a detailed plan for integrating women into positions now closed. All jobs must be available for qualified women by April 1, he said. [Stars & Stripes]
I totally agree with these military exchanges because it reduces tensions and suspicion between two countries usually viewed as rivals. Hopefully cooperation will continue to build in other areas between the US and China as well:
Servicemembers from the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force demonstrate ways to secure and evacuate casualties to their Chinese Army counterparts during the Disaster Management Exchange held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Nov. 20, 2015. DOD
Army medic Sgt. Leslie Peterson hesitated to answer when a medic from the Chinese military asked a basic question about how Peterson would care for a soldier badly wounded in battle.
“Can I answer that?” Peterson asked a higher-ranking U.S. soldier.
Peterson was given a blessing to respond. Then she continued her demonstration that won applause from a couple dozen visitors at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Friday.
She was a hit with this contingent from China’s People’s Liberation Army. But her hesitation underscored the newness of an unusual military exchange at JBLM that’s connecting soldiers from two armies usually characterized as rivals.
The exchange this week brought about 80 soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army to a military base in the continental U.S. for the first time. It marked a progression in an 11-year sequence of formal exchanges between the two armies focused on preparing for natural disasters.
Leaders from both countries view disaster preparation as an area where they can cooperate and build trust, possibly reducing the likelihood of an armed conflict in East Asia. [Stars & Stripes]
Here is the latest controversy on the religious freedom front:
A sign outside an Army training center at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, that featured a knight with crosses on his breastplate and shield was taken down Monday afternoon, hours after the head of a religious-freedom advocacy group called for the image’s removal.
The image represented the “Fighting Knights” of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 8th Special Troops Battalion. Members of the unit recently transformed an unused motor pool area into a warrior training center, 8th Theater Sustainment Command spokeswoman Sgt. 1st Class Mary Ferguson told Army Times. A news release detailing the offerings of the center went out Friday at Army.mil and other locations and included an image of the sign.
The knight with red crosses is “not an approved logo,” Ferguson said. She said she wasn’t sure how long the sign had been up or who approved the design, noting that the center had opened recently. A photo of the sign hosted by the U.S. Pacific Command website is dated Oct. 23. [Army Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but if the cross was whited out is having a knight as a logo still approved or are knights now officially politically incorrect?
By the way Army Times if you wondered where the image came from just do a Google image search for the word knight and the knight on the board is one of the top search results from this webpage.
How would you like to be the Company Commander for the unit this guy belonged to and got the phone call from authorities about what this guy did? The most frustrating part of the article is that the shooter says his military training took over to explain what he did. I’m not sure where shooting people driving by in a truck and holding a gun to a woman’s head was part of military training? I hope he enjoys the corrective training he is going to receive in a federal penitentiary:
Pierce County prosecutors said Monday they believe the man who was shot is in critical condition, in a medically induced coma, and they were not sure of his prognosis.
Spc. Jesse Suhanec, 22, of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, is charged with first- and second-degree assault, three counts of attempted first-degree robbery and one count of attempted first-degree burglary.
Suhanec is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
He pleaded not guilty Monday, and Court Commissioner Meagan Foley set bail at $1 million. Court records did not list an attorney for Suhanec.
According to charging papers:
The 30-year-old victim was on his way to discuss a parenting plan with his ex-wife when she heard multiple gunshots near her house about 10:10 a.m.
The man was shot the 15100 block of Grant Avenue Southwest and drove to a nearby fast-food restaurant, where he sounded the horn of the truck.
Two soldiers found him with gunshot wounds to his head and shoulders. At the hospital, doctors took out one bullet and left others as they treated him.
Meanwhile, Suhanec, who had checked out a van from his military unit, left the vehicle behind and headed down the street from the shooting.
He put a gun to a woman’s head in her driveway and said he’d kill her if she didn’t give him her car keys. [News Tribune]
You can read the rest at the link, but it only gets worse.
